Devolution proposals unveiled next week

Chancellor George Osborne told MPs that Lord Heseltine had set out a “compelling vision” of a less centralised country in his report last year, which called for £80bn of Whitehall spending to be devolved to local areas.

“We will set out next week our response to the Heseltine review,” the Chancellor said. “Michael Heseltine has set out a compelling vision of how we can operate as a more decentralised country, and empower our great cities.”

The Chancellor said Birmingham could become a “test case” for the decentralisation project.

The Yorkshire Post is calling for the Heseltine plan to be implemented quickly as part of its Give us a Fair Deal campaign.